The Osun state All Progressive Congress, APC has reportedly entered another gridlock as party members disrupted the announcement of primary elections results on Tuuesday.
The announcement which was scheduled at the Government House had Osun Party Chairman, Prince Gboyega Famoodun, Special assistant to Osun Governor on Politics , Sunday Akere, Nigeria Senate Spokesman and Senator representing Osun Central, Ajibola Basiru among others in attendance.
The APC members were appeared enraged due to ‘exclusion of delegates’ as ordinary party members had difficulties in entering the hall the announcement supposedly took place.
According to members who pleaded anonymity, they said the party leaders were telling selected person (delegates) to sign a certain paper without disclosing the contents.
This led the members in a large number to force their way in, regardless of security operatives at the doors and shout down at the party chairman Famoodun, SA Akere, Senator Basiru at the front table.
The party leaders who initially tried to calm the party members down subsequently left the hall in anger through a rear door as many were forcing their way to the front and were likely to resort to physical.
Prince Gboyega Famoodun could be seen in a viral video trying to pacify the members.
The disappointed APC members could be seen expressing their disappointment at the party leadership, as they were later instructed to leave the premises.
Here are excerpts from interviews with delegates who addressed The Newsbulletin Nigeria:
I am Aluko Olaniyi Titus from Ilesha West Local Government.
What I have seen here is not encouraging at all and we have just six weeks to the governorship election.
I want to implore the people in charge here that brought us here to please restructure whatsoever they have done wrong because of the members of the party because people here came from a very long distance. And most of them don’t even have the money to transport them to their destinations.
I think that is not encouraging for the incoming governorship election. I would like you people (journalists) forward these words of mine to those that can hear it more better so they can hear it more better so they can find more better things to do, to take good care of everyone here so everybody could be encouraged.
They said the whole delegates should be present here. They did not tell us what we were coming to do but they only told us to come here. They sent messages to every one of us, every delegate; those people you are seeing here are all delegates. You understand? We did not know the motive of us coming here. But they asked us to come. They sent us messages on our phones.
So coming down here, they said we should sign a form. What is the form all about? They did not tell us. At least if you want to sign a paper or any document, you should know the reason for you to sign.
So it is not easy for one to sigh what he doesn’t know. We feel disappointed. Everybody felt disappointed.
Moojibola Skiru from Ila Local Government
We asked to be given the mandate, not someone who did not vote. Someone who score zero will be given four hundred (vote). How do you do that?
This has been happening in the APC and we will not accept that. Gone are the days you will just lay your hands on someone’s shoulders and press him down.
We will not accept that.
This is an era everyone knows his right. We know our right and you cant deprive us of our right. I was inside the hall. Party members in that hall were aggrieved. We want our candidates to emerge. We have voted for our candidates, let them emerge and not just some unpopular candidates. That is only if they want to do their worse, let’s keep it that way.
They have manipulated it already. They want us to sign what we did not do. The vote we did not vote. We had a direct primary, how do you now tell the delegates to come and sign? Were delegates the voters? We (delegates) did not votes, how do we now sign what we did not do, o partook?
This is a direct primary, how do you now change it to indirect now? They invited delegates. Im from Ejigbo Ward 1, Ila Oragun.
We were not told what to come and do, they just invited us through a text overnight. A lot of us here did not see any text. They told us to only inform ourselves. The party leaders have invited us and we had complied.
We got here now and they want us to sign a document we never wrote.
I am a party man and this can never change my decision about the party. What about people who are not party people like me?
Our demand is give the mandate to the candidates that won during the direct primary or let us go back home and conduct an indirect primary whereby the delegates will vote so anybody that emerges will be given the mandate.
It is an issue of a mirror, it reflects people, or a photograph; the photographs will tell you who you are not that someone will be imposed on the majority. Gone were those days and that would never be allowed in this state.
Onihunde Sherifat from Ife South
In Ife South, it is Wasiu Atowo-Atomo that was elected. They want to cheat us in Ife South. They should give him the mandate. They said only we, the delegates should come; they did not tell us anything. They want us to sign some falsified papers. If they don’t give Wasiu the mandate, we the youth of Ife South shall decamp to the PDP. They should not deny him the glory, else the APC shall become history in Ife South. No Wasiu, no Oyetola in Ife South. Tell (Governor Gboyega) Oyetola that.
